Painting a Picture
by ColorOfDarkness666
Summary: Kimiko was just an ordinary, anime loving girl, she has a normal life just like any another. Until a fatal accident sends her to a different dimention. Now she has to help change the future, but only within the inner worlds of the zanpakuto. Also, with the help of a certain betraying shinigami. Grimmjow/OC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yay~ I'm starting on that Bleach story that's been stuck in my head for months now. Which, by the way, I haven't even been writing in months so I guess that's the best part. And the only reason I got two chapters out of two days is because I've been sitting in my bed with an injury for the past month. D: It's not even healed yet either. . . D:

Eventual Grimmjow/OC, Questions and constructive criticism welcome. Happy Reading~

**Disclaimer**: I don't own original material (anything pertaining to Bleach), I only own my ideas and characters.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

****She walked with a slight limp, arms crossed and completely ignoring the pleading girl beside her.

"I said I was sorry!" The girl wined, turning on her heal and walking backwards facing the limping girl. Still, she said nothing, merely taking a glance at the other girl and stubbornly looking to the side.

"Oh come on! Please talk to me; I said I was sorry didn't I? Doesn't that count?" She said, getting close to her face and trying to peer in the other girl's eyes.

She took another glance at her and sighed. "Fine." She huffed, uncrossing her arms. "But one question, how exactly did you manage to trip?"

The other girl grinned, spinning back into place beside her. "I told you, it was a rock."

"Yeah, right . . ." The other girl said slowly, recalling the events from the other day.

* * *

_"I am so gonna beat you!" Satomi shouted, passing the other teen in front of her. _

_ Her arms and legs pumping, her breathing getting faster; she could barely keep up. "It's not fair! I started before you!" Kimiko panted as she caught up to Satomi, running side by side._

_ "Too bad!" The other girl said with a teasing grin. As usual, Kimiko had went jogging with her cross-country team, and just as she was about to finish her run, Satomi had joined up. The team always passed her apartment during the last stretch, but today Satomi had been running late._

_ "I'm going to b-" Satomi shrieked slightly as her foot caught on something; she tumbled down and rolled to prevent injury. Kimiko's foot nicked the other girl's spinning leg and collapsed as well. Both rolled and twisted on the pavement, scraping their bodies on the way._

_ When they finally came to a stop, the entire team were hovering over them, asking if they were okay and helping them up._

_ "My ankle, I think it's twisted." Kimiko said through gritted teeth, lifting up off the ground._

_ "Well, it's no surprise you're injured with the way you two were sprinting so carelessly." A deep voice scolded._

_ "Sorry, Coach." The two girls chimed in sheepishly. _

_ "Well, can you get home?" He asked._

_ "She can wait at my place." Satomi said quickly, interrupting Kimiko and pointing to the building she just came out of._

_ The coach looked over to Kimiko, "That okay?" She nodded in answer. "Okay, go inside and put some ice on that so it doesn't swell. You too Satomi, go with her and take care of those scrapes."_

_ "No way! Come on coach, I haven't even started running yet, can I finish first, please!" She begged, clasping her hands and putting them up to her face. _

_ The coach rolled his eyes, "Fine, but don't complain to me when you end up sore tomorrow. Let's go everybody, let's finish that last half mile!" He started off again, jogging to the front of the pack, before the rest of the team followed._

_ "Sorry about that, Miko-chan, I'll make it up to you!" Satomi shouted with a wave before turning around. Kimiko just stared after her with a disgruntled expression, then she turned around and began limping toward her best friend's house._

* * *

She sighed, well, it could have been worse, and at least it's only a twisted ankle.

"Hey, I gotta get going, my parents have to give me some cash so I can go look for a present for my cousin's birthday." Kimiko said, looking over at her friend.

"Ooh, can I come?" She asked excitedly.

Kimiko laughed, "You got a lot homework remember. I did mine during lunch _and _in class. But I doubt I'll be all day, I'll see you later, okay." Satomi huffed but nonetheless gave her friend a hug.

"Later!" Satomi shouted, waving as she walked towards her house. Kimiko turned around and began walking toward the building her parents worked at. They lived in a big city, a metropolitan, with skyscrapers and no real houses. She hated it, she always hated big cities, but her parents had important jobs, so they had to move.

It was nearly a fifteen minute walk, and she was lucky her high school wasn't that far away. Kimiko walked through the revolving doors and headed toward the main desk.

"Hi Takana-san." She gave a slight wave in greeting to the woman behind the desk.

The brunette looked up and smiled, "Oh, hello Kimiko-chan, your mother's waiting for you in her office."

Kimiko returned the smile, "Thanks, bye Takana-san!" The woman nodded at her as she turned around and headed toward the elevator. She saw the door beginning to close so she quickly rushed inside. She set her school bad down after she pressed the button for the twentieth floor. There was only one other man in the elevator, but she paid him no mind.

Once the elevator stopped at her floor, she stepped out and heard the door close behind her. When she arrived at her mother's office she just walked in, not bothering to knock.

"Hey, Mom!" She said, slightly louder to get her attention. Her mother looked up from her laptop and smiled.

"Hey, Honey. I've got work to do so I can't talk for long."

"Yeah, that's fine, I just need the cash and I'll be outta your way." Her mother nodded and reached under the desk to find her purse.

"Here, this should be enough to find something nice for her." After digging in her purse she handed over a generous amount of money.

Kimiko smiled, "Thanks, can I leave my bag here so I don't have to carry it around all day?"

"Sure, hon." She asked, slightly distracted as she looked back to her laptop.

"Okay, I'll see you at home. Love ya!" She smiled and waved before dropping her bag against the wall next to the door, then moving out of the office and making her way down the hall to the elevator.

A sudden banging sound caused her to jump, she whirled around only to find a blur of black and brown crashing into her. Kimiko smashed to the ground, her head bashing against the floor with a crack. She groaned and rolled to her side, pushing one hand against the floor while her other cradled her head.

She was suddenly grabbed by the arm and hauled up to rest against the man who ran into her, his arm around her throat. She winced at the fast movement as her vision blurred. When her surroundings came clear to her, so did the situation. Her eyes widened when she realized she was nearly surrounded my people in uniforms. Her eyes focused on the writing on their vests, and a chill ran up her spin when she saw NPA written clearly in big, white letters.

National Police Agency, or NPA*, are only called when emergencies arise, where they then take control of the police forces.

She suddenly realized the hallway was now empty of civilians and a half moon of officers was surrounding her and the man behind her, all weapons drawn.

"Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!" Shouted the man franticly as the choke hold on her neck tightened. She nearly passed out when she felt cold metal against the side of her head. She was panicking, and missed the soothing words of the negotiator. She watched as all the officers slowly lowered their weapons but kept a close eye on her and the man.

Her eyes darted around her, taking in everything, and saw the door to the stairwell where the man most likely came from and more officers in vests coming their way from down the hall. Kimiko closed her eyes and tried to drone out the sounds of frazzled shouts and slow, calm voices to avoid even more panic.

That probably wouldn't do any good in this kind of situation, even as she began to feel tears roll down her cheeks. Her eyes opened when she heard the yells of the man becoming more desperate. She missed the entire negation, but she could tell things weren't going good, just from the alarmed expressions in front of her.

"I'M GOING TO SHOOT HER, THEM I'M GOINT TO SHOOT MYSELF!" The man shouted, the tone in his voice bridging on insanity.

"NO, WAIT!" The panicked voice of the negotiator yelled, his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. All the officers raised their guns as the slow clicking sound of the gun echoed in the hallway.

BANG!

She opened her eyes with a blood curdling scream.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know, real original, huh. -_- But considering the fact that I was just gonna find a way to push her out of a window, I think this works at least a little better. :D

* NPA – Basically the Japanese equivalent of the FBI.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay~ Another chapter! I'm begging to really like this story. :D The only thing that's really bothering me is figuring out how to properly incorporate her in the original plot! AHH! Going through 300 some episodes is not fun. -_-

Oh well, Read and Review! Happy Reading~

**Disclaimer**: I don't own original material (anything pertaining to Bleach), I only own my ideas and characters.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

She kneeled on the ground, hands supporting her as she gasped for breath, her long hair flowing past her shoulders and pooling in a pile of knotted curls. Her vision blurred as she blinked out the excess tears, still gasping and chocking for breath as she looked up.

The first thing she saw was blue; she realized it was a sky as soon as she spotted the white, puffy clouds. She leaned back on her heals and plopped on her bottom, patting herself down and quickly running a hand through her unruly hair, franticly looking for blood. Anything that could have told her she had been shot was wrong; she felt nothing similar to the liquid stickiness of blood, even though something inside of her was telling her that _something_ happened.

She looked around her and her eyes widened as she stared in horror at her surroundings.

"OH MY GOD!" She shouted as she scrambled up from her sitting position, and spinning around, she looked at the ground staring up at her. She stumbled back with a shriek, nearly falling.

She gazed around her and saw as the large buildings were turned horizontally, and also saw she was standing on the side of a building. Her hands clutched her head in distress, "Oh my God, oh God!"

A voice interrupted her coming panic attack, "Who are you?" A deep, booming voice echoed, the commanding question assaulting her ears.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around again, her wide eyes scouring the landscape and came across a middle-aged looking man standing in front of her. The worst part of this whole screwed up scenario . . . she _recognized_ him. She couldn't figure out where, but somehow she recognized him.

"Who are you?" The question came again, although slightly more impatient.

"Wha. . ." She breathed out, confusion assaulting her in waves. She didn't even know where she was; let alone who _he_ was, so why was he asking her that?

A different voice came this time, younger but clearly strong sounding. "Hey, Old man Zangetsu! What happened, I came as soon as I could! I-" The voice cut off abruptly when he caught sight of her the same time she spotted him.

Her eyes roved over him; bright, orange hair, tall form, and the large zanpakuto could only make up one person. _'I'm dreaming. . .'_ She thought faintly, feeling herself become numb as everything _real_ came crashing down on her. _'That, or I actually died. . .'_ Her surroundings went dark as she lost conciseness and her body came crumbling to the ground with a thump.

* * *

They both watched in shock as the strange girl collapsed.

"Zangetsu, who the hell is that!" Ichigo nearly shouted, pointing to the girl on the ground with shock and uncertainty.

"I am wondering that myself." He answered, glancing at the girl with unease.

"How did she get here? How can she even be in my soulscape? That's impossible!" He looked over to Zangetsu for an answer, his eyes wide.

"I do not know how she came here, but it seems she doesn't pose much danger, for now. The reiatsu that brought her here did not belong to her."

"I did feel something weird, like a foreign reiatsu invading mine. That wasn't her? Cause it felt pretty strong and it feels like it's coming from her." He said as he cautiously walked over to the girl, kneeling and sensing the different reiatsu.

"You're right, Ichigo. I felt something as well, although it wasn't her spiritual pressure. She does have reiatsu, but it's extremely faint and being overpowered by the other reiatsu, she's human." The zanpakuto commented, still sanding off to the side as Ichigo now examined her for injuries.

"That's impossible. . . Well . . . what's she doing here? If she was sent here then. . ." He glanced back as Zangetsu shook his head.

"Let's wait and see." He said firmly, faintly thinking of the fact that she looked more than panicked when she first arrived here. She seemed confused as well, the only thing they could do now was wait until she woke up, then they would get their answers.

* * *

The first thing she felt when she regained conciseness was a killer headache, she groaned as she rolled on her side. Her memories were muddled; she couldn't think clearly and sure as hell couldn't remember what happened. Her hand wandered to her head and felt a clear bump under her fingers.

"Great, _just_ great." She muttered, eyes still closed as she slowly moved into a sitting position, crossing her legs. She probably hit her head and passed out, if that was even _possible_. Her hand absentmindedly rubbed the bump as her eyes flickered open tiredly.

The moment her eyes opened to the scene in front of her, she nearly blacked out again as the memories exploded in her mind.

"No! Come on, don't do this to me!" She shouted, closing her eyes and shaking her head back and forth hysterically. "This is a dream, I'm going to wake up and that's it. I'm just going to wake up and not be _here._" She chanted lowly, counting to three before flashing her eyes open again. She was still greeted by the same sight of Zangetsu and Ichigo standing side-by-side, staring at her.

"That's it! I officially went insane!" She clutched her head, feeling a panic attack coming but she couldn't do anything to stop it. "I probably _did_ get shot and now I'm in a mental hospital dealing with my post-traumatic-stress disorder, or I'm in a coma! Yeah, that's it! I'm dreaming this in my coma just because I didn't want to remember what happened!" Her breathing was labored by the time she finished speaking, her eyes downcast as she tried to will herself awake, or at least do something to get out of this very _real_ feeling dream.

"Uhh, can I . . . do anything . . . to uhh . . . ya know . . . help?" A very hesitant voice came, jerking her out of her stupor. She looked up, tears gracing her eyes as she looked at the one who spoke, the orange haired one.

"Oh God, please don't talk. I'm trying to wake up!" She shook her head again, but when nothing changed, she just sniffled, tears cascading down her cheeks once again.

Ichigo and Zangetsu looked at each other in confusion. They both had absolutely no idea what was going on, one moment the girl gets here, passes out, then starts crying and having a panic attack. But they could both easily come to the same conclusion, she didn't know what was going on either, and it seemed to be affecting her much more severely.

Ichigo walked over slowly and kneeled down. He gathered her in a hug, trying to console her in any way he could. She latched on and started sobbing, realizing that it didn't matter which situation she was in, all that mattered was that it was real right now.

She cried into his chest for nearly five minutes, trying to come to terms with her situation. When she finally calmed down enough to talk properly, she pulled away slightly and looked down, rubbing her eyes. Although tears were still leaking, it wasn't a full blown sob fest anymore.

"So . . . uhh . . . what's your name?" Ichigo said gently, he felt comfortable enough to start asking her some basic questions now.

She glanced up at him and answered in a near whisper, "Nakano Kimiko."

"Ok, that's a start." He nodded, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, it's . . . nice to meet you." He nearly winced, not the best choice of words for this particular situation.

He took a deep breath, he really didn't want to start asking her these questions, she was in a delicate situation and he didn't want to make it worse. But they needed to know what was going on lest is become a serious problem.

"Can I . . . ask you what happened, Kimiko?" He said, trying to make eye contact.

She sniffled and rubbed her eyes again, "What do you mean?" She was stalling, but she didn't even know if this was real or not so if she started babbling like an idiot it could be like stepping on land mines.

_'Crap,'_ Ichigo thought, he's gonna need some help. He looked back to Zangetsu; his zanpakuto got his silent signal and walked over, copying his master's position.

"Nakano-san, I would like for you to tell us how you got here. It appears another reiatsu has overpowered your own." Zangetsu said, watching her eyes widen.

"Wait, what?" She exclaimed, another spiritual pressure? That's . . . weird, all she remembered was hearing the unmistakable bang of a gunshot and-

She cried out and clutched her head as images started flying through her mind, she couldn't make sense of them. Her vision blackened, the images becoming clearer. She saw people, a lot of people, with a man talking to her, saying something important. Another image popped up, this one just consisted of black smoke tendrils, curling around her and dragging her somewhere.

She opened her eyes, panting, and sweat running down her brow.

"Hey, Kimiko! Are you ok?" Ichigo asked loudly, shaking her shoulders slightly. He had immediately become concerned when she wouldn't respond to him after she grabbed her head.

She faintly nodded, responding, ". . . I think so . . ." She was still extremely confused about what that was.

"Were they memories?" Her head snapped up and focused on Zangetsu.

"Uhh, I don't . . . know." Now she was even more confused, it seemed right, that they could be memories, she could feel it. But she was sure she didn't forget anything, even though it seemed a part of her memory was missing. She sighed; this whole thing was becoming too overwhelming.

"So, is this real, or am I actually dreaming, cause I have no idea." She said nervously, not really wanting to know the answer, she'd rather go on thinking this was a dream or something.

"I don't know how this could be a dream to you, but . . . yeah, I guess it is real." Ichigo answered. "Does it have something to do with what you said before, about being shot?"

She hesitated and thought, _'I guess it couldn't hurt'_

"Yeah, just before I . . . got here, I was in a kind of situation." She launched into an explanation of what happened; the hostage situation, the NPA, and the bang of the gun.

They both absorbed the information, "I don't know how that could relate to what's going on right now, but are you sure you don't remember anything after that?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Kimiko nodded, "Uhh . . . look, can I just lie down, or somethin', cause . . ." She let her sentence run off, glancing to the side.

"Yeah, sure." Ichigo said nodding; he stood up and offered her a hand. She stood up and wandered off to the side of the building and sat down, looking at the scenery she let her mind drift.

"Are we still gonna talk to her later, ask her stuff?" Ichigo asked his Zanpakuto, looking at Kimiko.

"Yes, it would be best. It seems she has misplaced her memory, if we could get her to remember, I think it would explain how she could enter our soulscape."

"But should we tell anyone . . .?" Ichigo's mind spun, thinking of all the pros and cons, and the amount of cons were winning.

"I don't think that would be best until we have everything figured out." Zangetsu seemed to be on the same thought train as Ichigo.

He nodded, "Alright, but I have to go; Renji's calling me." He pulled a face, he knew he would probably get kicked if he didn't go soon, "Can you take care of her?"

"Of course." Ichigo nodded and faded out of his inner world.

Kimiko sat on the edge of the building, thinking of everything that happened so far. It shouldn't be impossible that something even remotely close to this situation should happen, _'I mean, now that I think about it, it seems like something that would happen in a fanfic or something.'_ She sighed; people don't just randomly get zapped into different dimensions, or worlds, whatever you want to call it. Sure, she's read her fair share of those kinda stories, but it's an anime!

She's gotta be dreaming or something, but if feels _so_ real. Even in dreams, you have that feeling were you can't control yourself; you just move or say something without your own control. It's frustrating to say the least, but at least it would be better than this! Every second, she feels as if she's going to have another panic attack and just go crazy. She couldn't help but think of all her friends and family, if this is real, then what happened to her in that hostage situation? Did she really die and just get transported here or something?

Also, what's with her being in Ichigo's inner world? Couldn't she have ended up near Urahara's shop or something? Everything was so confusing to her; she couldn't get her thoughts straight. She decided if this was going to work, she might as well get some rest and talk to Zangetsu and Ichigo about this later. Maybe they could ask Urahara to help her.

* * *

She woke up slowly; trying to make that sleep induced stupor last as long as she could. She went back to sleep for another ten minutes, and when she felt she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, she got up into a sitting position. She ran a hand through her tangled and matted hair, and figuring it would take hours to do what a brush could do in minutes, she gave up and put her long hair up into a messy ponytail with a hairband she still had on her wrist. She stood up as she looked for Zangetsu and furrowed her brows, she couldn't find him.

"Zangetsu!" She called out, her voice echoing.

Her body went completely rigid when she heard maniacal laughing, her wide eyes shifted and landed on a white Ichigo sitting casually on what was once a window sill.

"Not quite." He said mockingly, laughing slightly again. Only one thought entered her mind, _'This is _not_ good'_

He stood up and began taking steps toward her, "So you're the girl that has Zangetsu and the King all riled up. I gotta say, you made quite the entrance." He said, his psychotic grin widening. She wanted to back up, _so_ bad, but she slept near the edge of the building and she sure as hell wasn't going to jump.

She didn't even know if he was going to kill her or not. Even though half of her still believed this whole thing to be a dream or something, she really didn't want to die, even dream deaths sucked. Also, it reminded her, where was she in the Bleach plot? It couldn't be after Ichigo became a Vizard, then this wouldn't be happening.

She jerked out of her thoughts with a shriek; he was right in front of her, grinning madly as he grasped her neck. She clutched desperately at his hand, trying in vain to loosen his grip; her nails couldn't even find purchase in his skin. She coughed, trying to breathe as he laughed again.

"Ya know, I haven't fought anyone in a while, so I'm getting kinda bored." He grinned as she whimpered. Suddenly he jerked his arm, throwing her with ease across the expanse of the building. She landed roughly, rolling and scraping her arms and knees. Her ankle also twisted again, and it was just healing too.

She stopped rolling with a grunt; he had stopped her body with his outstretched foot. He leaned over her with a leer, his sword slamming into the ground near her head.

"Ya think you can give me some fun?" He sneered, his insane laughter starting up again. She screamed and held her hands up to protect herself as he lifted his sword up again.

A few seconds passed, and when nothing happened, she peaked out of her closed eyes and lowered her arms slightly when she caught sight of his expression. His grin was gone and his eyes wide in a rare expression of surprise, his eyes focused on something past her.

When she followed his gaze, her eyes widened as well, a black cloud, swirling with smoke, levitated about a foot off the ground. Suddenly, the smoke shot out with lightning speed and engulfed her, solid-like streams wrapped around her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, thrashing as she began being forcibly dragged toward the swirling mass of darkness.

* * *

A/N: Yup, pretty much just a chapter of her freaking out. But hey, wouldn't you? I know I would. :D Ah, I love cliff hangers, if you're wondering what's going to happen, tune in for the next episode. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hope you enjoy, everybody! Happy Reading~

**Disclaimer**: I don't own original material (anything pertaining to Bleach), I only own my ideas and characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

She kept screaming the entire time; black swirling around her, pulling and shoving her in one general direction. She was blind the entire time, the blackness clouding her vision until a spark of light shot through the thick smoke. The beam getting brighter and brighter, she focused on the light until she was forced to cover her eyes in pain. She immediately felt the floating sensation dissipate as she shot out into the light, her body tumbling on rough rock as gravity took hold again.

She eventually stopped rolling; still keeping her eyes closed, she groaned and shifted onto her back. Her breathing was labored as she instinctively checked for injuries. The pain in her ankle was still bad, but now she could feel cuts and scrapes littering her body. She sat up and tightened her hair tie, her hair was even worse now in tangles and knots, it would take hours to tame the rats nest her hair made.

She opened her eyes and took a look around, what she saw was strange, she didn't recognize it at all.

"Where am I?" She mumbled, standing up and dusting herself off. Her jeans were nearly ruined with holes, and her jacket was getting there. She was on a jagged cliff, grey rocks pilling high in some places and creating large craters in others. She cautiously walked to the edge of the cliff, and all she saw was black, below and in front of her. She didn't see a bottom, it looked like an endless pit; she backed away and looked the other way. There wasn't a green thing in sight, no plants or animals, it seemed completely deserted. Although she did see snow topped mountains in the distance; with ragged edges and contrasting sizes.

Kimiko was thankful that she was away from the hollow, but decided against that when she suddenly felt a chill. She looked around but didn't see anyone, she had a feeling someone was there, but it wasn't a good feeling. _If_ she was in the Bleach plot, she should've recognized this place right off the bat, but she's never seen this place in her entire life.

"Hello . . .?" She called out anxiously, her eyes flickering from each towering mini mountain to the next large crater.

"Who are you?" A harsh voice commanded. She jumped and looked to her right. A man stepped out from behind a pile of rocks, and her eyes widened, his attire was strange.

He stood in a large white kimono, obviously too big for him, with a neon blue sash tightly controlling some of the extra material billowing in the wind. The sash was wrapped twice over his right arm and three times over his left leg, also wrapping around his chest to tie together at his hip. He also wore a black sleeveless over-coat, the collar extending in a large V-shape to his hip, with ragged strips of cloth connecting the end of the V with the back of the coat to keep it from whirling freely in the wind.

He also had a tight bandana, the same color as his sash, covering the right half of his face, along with some of his spiky black hair. His eyes were nearly the same color as his hair, excluding the grey tips. His hair was nearly shoulder length, black at the roots, then slowly lightening to a grey near the tips.

She had to admit, he was a strange sight to see, and she didn't recognize him at all. That was the worst part; she didn't know where she was, let alone who _that_ guy was.

"Well?" The voice snapped out again, impatiently. She whipped her head up to meet his eyes and flushed, she had been staring at him far too long.

"Um . . . My n-name's Nakano Kimiko." She stuttered out nervously, she nearly groaned in frustration, she had to go through _this_ again. She really hoped he was a nice guy; otherwise the bruises on her neck would probably get worse.

She started backing up when he stepped closer. She watched his eyes narrow in suspicion, before disappearing and reappearing in front of her. She shrieked in surprise, then fear as he grabbed the collar of her hoodie and hoisted her up and over the edge of the cliff.

"Oh my God!" She gasped out, bringing her hands up and gripping his wrist. She glanced down and felt a rush of fear go through her.

"How did you get here?" He said again, his voice cold and impatient. He shook her slightly and she gasped again, tightening her grip on his wrist.

"I-I d-don't know!" She shouted desperately, her eyes pleading with him.

He didn't relent, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion. He loosened his grip on her collar slightly, and she screamed as she began slipping.

"I SWEAR! I DON"T KNOW!" She screamed out, her knuckles white from the pressure she was exerting on his wrist, trying to hold on. He began uncurling his fingers from her collar, she was slipping faster. She had to do something; he was actually going to drop her!

"Wait, wait!" She cried out, before taking a deep breath and blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"ICHIGO SENT ME!" She shouted, with her eyes clenched tight. It was silent for a moment, then she yelped when her body moved, landing on the ground with a thump. She lie on her back and opened her eyes, looking at the man standing above her hesitantly.

He stood there for a moment before glancing behind her and nodding.

"You said Kurosaki sent you?" A smooth voice echoed behind her. She snapped her head around and stared, horrified, at the silver haired man.

"Oh no . . . oh God . . ." She whispered in shock. It couldn't be, was this Ichimaru Gin's _soulscape_? How did she even get here? _Why_ was she here?

"Um . . . well . . ." She muttered with a wince, as she turned around and sat on her knees. That probably wasn't the best thing to say but at least it got her on the ground.

"Not exactly . . ." She quickly backpedaled when she saw his hand reach for what was most likely his zanpakuto. "Wait! I swear I don't even know what's going on either. But, I mean, he was going to drop me! I had to say _something_!" That didn't help her situation at all. She noticed Gin wasn't smiling, he was completely serious.

"You say his name like you know him." It wasn't a question, merely in inquiry.

Her eyes widened, "Uh . . . yeah. I guess you could say that, I talked to him, you know, but . . . um . . ." She hesitated, how was she going to explain this? Ichigo and Zangetsu made this easy on her, even when she was freaking out, but this was _Ichimaru Gin_. He was a terrifying person, even though she knew he was kind of a good guy.

She took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly, looking at the ground. "I kind of ended up in Ichigo's soulscape to, I don't know how. I think I _may_ have died before that and then somehow ended up in his inner word but I'm not entirely sure." She rambled quickly, trying to skim over the details as best she could. "I talked to Ichigo and Zangetsu, you know, his zanpakuto, and that's kinda what they said and . . . yeah. Um . . . and then I fell asleep and kinda met Ichigo's inner hollow, and . . . he was about to kill me . . . I think, so I panicked and now here I am." She said all that in seconds, fidgeting the entire time and looking everywhere but at Gin and who she supposed was Shinsō, who was now standing near Gin.

She jumped when she saw Gin kneel in front of her, his infamous grin still absent. She could see a glimmer of blue between his narrowed eyes, and faintly realized in was about the same color as his zanpakuto's sash and bandana.

"You don't remember how you got here?" She hesitated again at his simple question.

"Well . . . not really. I mean, I didn't when I first got to Ichigo's soulscape, but then I had this weird in-the-dark moment or somethin', that really freaked me out, 'cause I had this weird flash of pictures. Zangetsu said that maybe they were memories. I only saw this guy there though, I know he said something really important but I can't remember." She silently cursed herself, she was still talking really fast, and she still felt panicked. This whole situation was entirely different from the one with Ichigo and Zangetsu, she couldn't stop rambling, not to mention with Shinsō glaring at her and Gin staring at her seriously, and it was really freaking her out.

He was silent for a moment, ". . . You recognized me."

_'Oh no . . .'_ Her breathing hitched and she went completely stiff. She hadn't thought about that, even if this was real, how was she going to explain that she knew everything about him _and_ the Bleach plot? He was technically in league with Aizen, would he say anything even if she _did_ tell him. He already knew she was in his soulscape! She was screwed. She needed to think up an excuse!

"Um . . . Yeah, cause . . ." _'Shit!'_ She cursed; her mind whirled, trying to come up with something, anything!

It was too late; the ringing of a metal blade caught her attention. She gasped as she felt the cold metal pressing against her throat. Suddenly, he grinned, the serious expression wiping off his face.

"You could lie to me, but I don't think that would be a very good idea." He mocked in a sing-song voice.

Her eyes widened; swallowing, she spoke, "O-Ok, ok. I-I'll tell you. Please just get your sword away from me." The sword didn't move, she whimpered; feeling the blade cut into her already bruised neck, blood slowly leaking out from the thin cut.

She thought it best just to go with a somewhat half lie. "Well . . . I kinda know what's going to happen. . . I mean, like . . ." She was having a really hard time explaining this; she closed her eyes and tried again. "I had this . . . somewhat . . . vision . . . of the past and what's going to happen here, while I was . . . passing through, I guess." She mentally slapped herself, a vision? Really? That's the best she could come up with? The corniest of excuses . . . and she picked that one. Great.

He looked at her, silently. She could tell he didn't believe her, at least some of it though. "How much do you know?" He said as he removed the sword and sheathed it.

She hesitated before squeaking out, "Everything." She saw his grin falter for a second before he brought it back up. He stood up and stepped back a little, waiting for her to stand up. She followed suit and stood there awkwardly.

"So . . . I know everything with Aizen and you. With the whole you wanna kill him stuff. So, could you not, like, tell him about this? 'Cause I don't really know what's going on and . . . yeah." She suggested, slightly skittish.

"Now why would I tell Aizen, wouldn't that defeat the point of finding out how you got here? Besides, you could be an ally." His mocking voice conveyed, his smile still wide.

"Uh . . . Right . . ." She coughed slightly, her body still taunt. She couldn't tell if that last part was sarcastic or not.

"I suppose you know my name already, I'm Ichimaru Gin, it's a _pleasure_ to meet you."

"Nakano Kimiko . . . uh . . . Ditto." She heard him chuckle slightly, and she winced. Now she knew what Rukia meant when she called him a snake, he was mocking and sarcastic, and although she noticed everyone's voices were different from both the sub and dub of the anime, his was exactly like Rukia described it.

"Um . . . Can we talk about this whole thing later? I should probably get back to Ichigo and Zangetsu, they're probably worried, you know, with the whole Inner Hollow thing." She was still nervous around him, and she'll probably always be, he was intimidating.

"Of _course_, we wouldn't want to worry them, now would we?" He cooed sarcastically. "If you know how to get back, that is." His grin widened in amusement.

She blanched, no, she didn't know how to get back, and she'll probably go crazy if she had to spend the rest of her life with him!

"Crap." She muttered. "Ok, it was like this giant black cloud of smoke that came just after Ichigo's hollow tried to kill me. I have no idea what happened!" Kimiko explained, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe I could just try to imagine it or something." She muttered again as she closed her eyes and tried picturing the cloud of smoke. After she was pretty sure nothing happened, she slowly opened one eye, then the other.

"It's not working!" She whined, panicking slightly.

"You said it only appeared after you were nearly killed, correct?" Gin's voice came again as he walked up to her.

"Uh . . . yeah?" She answered back nervously, she didn't like where this was going.

He unsheathed his sword and raised it high, "I think I can help."

"WAIT! STOP!" She yelled out, raising her hands. She screamed as he swung his sword down in an arc, no intention of stopping.

Suddenly she was jerked away from the blade, watching numbly as the tip barely missed her neck, and screamed again as she began to drown in the darkness, the tendrils wrapping around her and shooting her body into the black cloud.

Gin watched as Kimiko and the cloud slowly dispersed from his soulscape, his grin falling from his features. He had felt the foreign reiatsu overpowering her own and create the cloud.

He heard his zanpakuto speak, "Things are going to get complicated." Shinsō stated simply, standing beside his master. Gin agreed.


End file.
